


pink slips, pink lips

by gilligankane



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Drag Race, F/F, Wayhaught - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 06:47:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11156490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gilligankane/pseuds/gilligankane
Summary: "And I challenged him to a race. For pink slips!""Pink slips," Nicole repeats slowly.The bar door opens and Waverly come stomping down the stairs, eyes already locked on Wynonna."Oh, shit," Wynonna breathes out, scrambling to get out of her seat.





	pink slips, pink lips

**Author's Note:**

> The alternate title for this fic is: "Champ Hardy is a Bag of Dicks" but instead, I just used that phrase about nine times in the story. So enjoy.
> 
> From a tumblr prompt asking for a Fast/Furious style fic. I can't do that; this is what I could do.

"Champ Hardy is a bag of," Wynonna looks around and lowers her voice. "Dicks," she finishes. "He is a bag of dicks."

Nicole looks up from her book, sitting at the corner of the bar, and shrugs. "Tell me something I don't know."

"I'm gonna kick his ass," Wynonna says. 

"Something I  _don't_  know," Nicole repeats. 

"I'm going to kick his ass and take his truck. Two birds, one stone." Wynonna climbs up onto the bar, leans over, and grabs a bottle from the ice well. She brings the top of the bottle down hard on the top of the bar and the cap pops off. She takes a long gulp from the bottle and slams it back down on the bar, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

Nicole sighs and reaches for the coaster she's been using as a bookmark and pushes it into the spine of the book, closing it. She stays quiet for a moment until Wynonna's lack of patience gets the better of her. 

"Aren't you going to ask me what I'm talking about?"

Nicole sighs again. "You're going to tell me anyway. Why do you need me to ask?"

"You know, for being my best friend, you're not interested enough in the trouble I get into," Wynonna complains. 

"For being a cop, maybe me ignoring the trouble you get into is best for you," Nicole fires back. 

"Get off my bar, girl," Gus snaps as she comes out from the back room. "And make sure you pay for that."

"Mornin', Gus," Nicole says, lifting a hand. 

Gus smiles. "Good morning, Officer. Could you arrest my niece, please?"

"Hey," Wynonna protests, her mouth around the nearly-emptying bottle.

Nicole smiles back. "I would, but Nedley doesn't like her taking up real estate. He calls her 'bad for business'. No one commits any crimes when they find out they'll have to share holding with Wynonna Earp."

Wynonna swats her shoulder and grabs another beer. She goes to hit it off the bar again but Gus hands her an opener. 

"I can't say I blame them," Gus mutters. 

Nicole waves her hand at the Gus glass tries to offer her. 

"Sprite. I know you have a shift today," Gus says. She smirks at Nicole's confusing look. "Waverly was complaining about you missin' movie night."

Wynonna swats Nicole again. "You didn't tell me you were missing movie night. You're my best friend, not Waverly's."

Nicole shrugs. "Waverly asked. You didn't. You just assumed. And you know what happens when you assume."

"Something about my ass being top-shelf," Wynonna says. 

"Get it off my bar," Gus says again. She pinches Wynonna. 

Wynonna hops off with a yelp and settles into the seat next to Nicole. She taps her bottle against Nicole's glass and take a big sip. "So do you want to know why I'm going to take Champ Hardy's truck, or not."

"I get to say no?" Nicole asks, already blocking Wynonna's hand from landing on her shoulder a third time. "Fine. Tell me."

Wynonna leans back on her stool, full storyteller mode. She folds her hands behind her head. "Well, it started back in 1996, when Champ Hardy knocked me down on Main Street while he was -" She stops when Nicole rolls her eyes. "Okay, okay. Meathead was just over at Deed's Hardware,  _bragging_  about - and these are his words - "bagging the only sane Earp this side of the border" and how -"

"He said  _what_?" Nicole interrupts, her jawline tight. 

"I know," Wynonna agrees, nodding. "And so I said- Woah! Wait a minute," she hollers, grabbing the back of Nicole's shirt. 

"I'm just gonna knock his front teeth in and come back," Nicole explains, her voice low and eerily calm. "Ten minutes. Don't let anyone touch my drink."

Wynonna looks around the empty bar. "No one is going to touch it and you're not going anywhere. I'm trying to tell you how I resisted the urge to punch him in the balls and just challenged him to a drag race instead."

Nicole sighs and drops her forehead to the bar. "You did what?"

Wynonna smiles proudly. "Hey, I didn't hit anyone! I think that deserves a drink." She reaches for a third bottle and ignores Gus glaring at her from the other end of the U-shaped bar. "And I challenged him to a race. For pink slips!"

"Pink slips," Nicole repeats slowly. 

The bar door opens and Waverly come stomping down the stairs, eyes already locked on Wynonna.

"Oh, shit," Wynonna breathes out, scrambling to get out of her seat. 

Nicole looks at Waverly, then back to Wynonna, and grabs Wynonna's arm, holding her in her seat. She smiles widely at Waverly. 

"Traitor," Wynonna hisses as Waverly rounds on her. 

"I can't believe you," Waverly starts. 

"No one believed in Jesus, either," Wynonna throws out. 

Waverly ignores her. "You  _assaulted_  him. In the middle of the hardware store!"

Now Nicole frowns at Wynonna. "You were just bragging because you  _didn't_  hit him."

"It was a love tap," Wynonna defends.

Waverly crosses her arms over her chest. "You broke his nose."

"Wynonna!"

Wynonna puts her hands up in surrender. "Okay. So maybe it was more than a love tap. He still deserved it."

"Oh, I'd love to hear why," Waverly says, still glaring. 

Wynonna goes quiet and shrugs. "I don't like his face," she says instead of the truth. She shrugs a second time. "Do I really need more of a reason than that?" She grabs her beer and takes a drink. "And anyway, why're you still with that loser? You can do so much better than Chump Hardass."

Waverly shifts uncomfortably. "We've been dating for years," she says. 

Wynonna gives her a pointed look. "And?"

"So shut up," Waverly fires back weakly. She turns her attention to Nicole. "Did you know about this?"

Nicole frowns. "I've been sitting here since Gus opened the door."

Waverly eyes her for a moment before giving her a soft nod. She pulls herself up into the stool on the other side of Nicole, shooting Wynonna little glares. "It's broken, you know.  His nose."

Wynonna grins wickedly. Nicole coughs. The grin slips off Wynonna's face and twists into something that might be sympathy, if Wynonna could just stop smirking for a second. 

"He's going to miss the rodeo this weekend because of it," Waverly continues.

"Oh, shucks." Wynonna leans away as Waverly tries to stretch across Nicole to swat at her. "It's fine. He has bigger plans this weekend anyway." As soon as Wynonna says it, she clamps a hand over her mouth.

Waverly takes a deep, steadying breath - the kind she only ever takes when she's two seconds away from using the word "shit" as a comma - and rests a hand on Nicole's shoulder, pushing herself up so she can see Wynonna clearly. "Excuse me?"

"I didn't say -" 

"Wynonna," Nicole interrupts. She tips her head towards Waverly, her eyes wide.

Wynonna sighs. "We're racing for pink slips," she murmurs into her hand. 

Waverly sighs and Nicole reaches for Wynonna before Waverly can get up. She peels Wynonna's hand from off her mouth. 

"We're racing for pink slips," Wynonna says a little louder. "Hey, it was his idea!" 

Waverly's face is tight and drawn. She takes a slow breath, a different one this time - the kind she takes when she's resigning herself to another one of Wynonna's crazy ideas.

"Saturday," Wynonna continues when she realizes that Waverly isn't going to throw something at her. "At high noon!"

Waverly sags back down onto the barstool and rests her chin in her hand as Wynonna goes on and on about how she's going to paint Champ's truck bright pink when she wins it. She makes faces at Nicole over Wynonna’s head but they keep quiet and let her rant and rave. Nicole’s book lays forgotten on the bartop but Waverly picks at the corners of the pages absently.

“Okay!” Wynonna declares an hour and two beers later. She slides off her stool and lands on unsteady feet. “I’m out of here. Stop by after your shift, okay? We have to talk strategy.”

“Strategy,” Nicole repeats weakly.

Wynonna gives her a grin that makes Nicole’s stomach flop. “You’re my second, Haught.”

Nicole sighs heavily as Wynonna leaves the bar. The door slams behind her so loudly that Nicole doesn’t notice Waverly slide into Wynonn’a empty seat until she turns around and Waverly is so close.

“So what really happened?” she asks.

Nicole frowns. “What?”

“Between Wynonna and Champ. What really happened?”

“I think she said he was, and I quote, ‘a bag of dicks’,” Nicole says. It’s not a lie; it’s just not the whole truth.

Waverly sighs and picks up Nicole’s book, flipping through it idly. “You’ve already this.”

Nicole shrugs. “I like to reread things. How did you know I already read it?”

Waverly drops  _The Big Sky_  down onto the bar. “I pay attention,” she says simply.

Nicole picks up the book. “I like A.B. Guthrie Jr.,” she says. “This is the first of six. I have them all if you want to ever borrow them.”

“Take a break from dead languages, you mean,” Waverly says. A hint of bitterness slides through the words. “ _Read normal books, Waverly_ ,” she mocks. “ _Be normal, Waves. Like the other girls._ ”

Nicole drops her hand over Waverly’s. “Hey,” she says quietly. “You  _are_  normal.”

Waverly rolls her eyes but turns her hand over so her fingers lace with Nicole’s, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I’m Purgatory normal.”

“Normal is normal is normal,” Nicole says. She squeezes Waverly's hand gently. “And I like your normal.”

Waverly goes quiet for a moment but her smile lingers. Nicole has to look away for a moment and when she does, her eyes drift to the clock on the far wall. She groans. “I’ve got to go,” she says. “My shift starts in ten.” She drains the last of her Sprite and tucks the small paperback book into her back pocket. Waverly hops down and straightens her top slightly. Nicole’s eyes follow the movement. When she looks back up, Waverly is looking at her expectantly.

“Ready?”

Nicole frowns. “You comin’ to the station?”

Waverly shrugs. “I’ll walk you to work. I need to stop by the library anyway.”

Nicole holds the door as they leave, hollering ‘goodbye’ to Gus, somewhere in the back. It’s a short walk from Shorty’s to the Sheriff’s Department but Waverly gets going about some book she’s been tracking down and how it’s finally in Purgatory and the librarian, Mrs. Potter, promised she could have unlimited renewals on checking it out. By the time they reach the station, Nicole is walking slower than ever, trying to stretch the time out. Waverly takes a breath and realizes where they are and grins sheepishly.

“Sorry,” she says. “I didn’t mean to talk your ear off.”

“I’d give you my ear if you wanted it,” Nicole says, instantly flushing as she finishes speaking. She groans inwardly.

Waverly only smiles, though, tipping her head to the side. “What would I do with an ear?” she asks.

Nicole laughs and tugs at the door to the station. There’s a slim hand on her shoulder, pulling her down long enough for Waverly to press a kiss to her cheek.

“Please come over after your shift?” she asks. “Not for Wynonna - she’ll be asleep. But we can finally finish  _Before Midnight_.”

Nicole pretends to make a face but when Waverly starts to pout she instantly relents. “Okay, okay,” she agrees. “It’ll be late,” she warns.

“I’ll wait,” Waverly promises.

Nicole watches Waverly walk across the street and into the library before she finishes pulling the station door open and slipping inside.

 

—

Nicole likes Waverly.

Not just in a friend way.

_Well, yes_ , she thinks.  _In a friend way_.

But also in an ‘ _I would give you my ear_ ’ way. An ‘ _I would take a bullet for you_ ’ way. A ‘ _You can do better than this town but don’t leave here without me_ ’ way. An ‘ _I will listen to you talk about dead languages and ancient myths for hours_ ’ way. A ‘ _Your boyfriend sucks but I won’t point that out’_  way. A ‘ _Please hold my hand during scary movies_ ’ way. 

She likes Waverly in an ‘ _I think I love you_ ’ way.

Wynonna knows. Wynonna makes fun of her for it. Wynonna uses it like a punchline. Wynonna plays Nicole like a fiddle, because she knows. She knows if she tells Nicole that Champ said something about Waverly, something crass and rude, Nicole will lose any physical assault report that ends up on her desk. Wynonna knows that if she’s looking for a second, someone to back her up in an attempt to crush Champ’s fragile masculinity, Nicole is always on board.

She hadn’t questioned Champ and Waverly when she first got to Purgatory. They make sense on paper. Purgatory’s princess and their rodeo Romeo - it’s the plot of every cheesy general story romance novel Nicole’s mom loves to read. But then Champ opens his mouth or lets his hand slide across someone else’s thigh and that Prince Charming smoothness fades in a slimy feeling that makes Nicole’s fists shake. Waverly is too smart, too kind, too caring to be involved with someone who bulldozes their way through life.

Nicole says that, once; Waverly doesn’t speak to her for a week.

When she finally decides she’ll apologize, Waverly tells her that Champ is different around her, when they’re alone, and she’ll never understand. Waverly tells her if she really wanted to be a good friend, she would support Waverly and Champ, not bring them down.

So Nicole swallows down her urge to smack the smarmy smile off Champ’s face and tips her hat at him instead, for Waverly.

She ignores her silly little crush. She ignores it when it becomes a slight infatuation. She ignores it when that infatuation bursts into something that makes Nicole’s heart beat wildly out of her chest every time she sees Waverly.

She ignores it when she ends up labeling it as  _love_.

It’s totally easy. She definitely has this under control. 

Waverly grins at her before she gets into the library and Nicole feels her heart push through her ribcage.

She totally has it under control.

 

—

_Champ is a bag of dicks_ , Nicole thinks on Saturday morning.

She’s not sure why she’s even here. It’s her day off. She pulls her baseball cap lower down on her head but with it backwards it’s not blocking the sun from her eyes. She decides to just hold her hand up like a visor.

Wynonna pounds her fist into her open hand. “He’s scared,” she decides.

“He rides bulls for a living,” Nicole points out.

“I’m more terrifying than a bull.” Wynonna pounds her fist into her hand again. “That’s why he’s late.”

“I thought you were meeting at ‘ _high noon_’, Nicole says. “It’s 9:30, Wynonna.”

Wynonna glares. “Are you mocking me?”

Nicole puts her hands up. “I would never.”

Wynonna reaches over and pulls at the hem of Nicole’s t-shirt. The fabric bounces and Nicole smoothes down her shirt, annoyed. “We’re meeting to establish rules,” she says. “They used to do this for duels, you know. In the Old West.”

Nicole rolls her eyes and leans back against the side of Wynonna’s truck. She folds her arms over her chest and makes a face. “I know what they did in the Old West,” she mumbles.

“Okay, Sheriff,” Wynonna fires back, stretching her neck out and scanning the deserted parking lot. 

“You couldn’t have picked, like, 11?”

Wynonna rolls her eyes. “I”m sorry. Did getting you up this early interrupt your morning snuggles with Waverly?”

A hand slides over her shoulder from behind and someone moves her hat around so it’s more sideways. Waverly’s breath is hot in her ear as she leans out of the window of the truck. “Leave Nicole alone,” Waverly scolds. “I still don’t know why you have to go through with this. Can’t you just let it go?”

Wynonna doesn’t even look back at her. “He didn’t let it go.”

Waverly sighs loudly. It sends shivers up Nicole’s spine as it brushes across her neck. “Be the bigger person, Wynonna.”

Wynonna shakes her head. “Nope.”

“It’s a two-way street,” Waverly continues.

Wynonna looks back at Waverly. There’s something in her eyes that Nicole doesn’t recognize. “Then why am I the only one on it?”

They have a moment that Nicole isn’t a part of, staring at each other until a tire squeals somewhere on Main Street and Wynonna looks away, her eyes hard. Waverly’s hand twitches, resting on Nicole’s shoulder. Without thinking, she reaches up and laces her fingers in Waverly’s, squeezing softly. Waverly pushes further out of the truck and rests her chin on Nicole’s opposite shoulder, her arm across Nicole’s back and their hands still together. Nicole feels warm and not just because of the morning sun beating down on her face.

The squealing tires gets closer and Nicole wrinkles her nose as the smell of burning diesel seeps in the air around them. Champ’s truck comes flying into parking lot. Another truck follows, a guy Nicole vaguely recognizes leaning out of the passenger side. The trucks come to a screeching stop. Waverly’s hand slides out of her hand and drops to her shoulder, squeezing once before Waverly slides back into the truck and out of the opposite door. She comes around the front of it at the same time as Champ slides out of his truck, his boots hitting the dirt with a thud. A splash or black and blue spreads under his eyes and across his nose.

“Had to bring your guard dog?” Champ asks, smirking as he glances over at Nicole.

“Had to bring your babysitters?” Wynonna fires back, eyeing the three guys who stand behind Champ. 

Champ notices Waverly leaning against the hood of the truck and straightens up a little. “Hey, baby.” He traps her against the truck and kisses her, hard. His eyes stay on Nicole the whole time.

(Wynonna knows. Wynonna makes fun of her for it.

_Champ_  knows.  _Champ_  makes it hell for her.

It seems the only person who doesn’t know is Waverly. )

Waverly pushes at Champ’s chest after the kiss goes on for an unnecessarily long time. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and her eyes stray to Nicole just long enough for Nicole to notice and then dance away again.

“So, rules,” Wynonna prompts.

Champ settles his arm around Waverly’s shoulder and his hand splays on the hood of Wynonna’s truck. Waverly elbows him and his hand drops. “Sure, rules. But I don’t know why we need rules when I’m gonna  _smoke_  you.” 

Wynonna scoffs. “Yeah, okay. Ground rules. We’re starting at the edge of Main.” She points to the corner at the end of the parking lot. “A mile down and a mile back."

“Winner takes all,” Champ interrupts.

“Winner takes truck,” Wynonna corrects. “No running each other off the road. No contact at all.”

“Trash talkin’?”

“Necessary,” Wynonna decides.

Champ stares at Wynonna for a long moment before twisting his mouth into a smirk and nodding. He holds out his hand. “Deal.”

Wynonna takes his hand and shakes it firmly. Nicole grins a little when she sees him wince at the force of her grip. He grits his teeth and Wynonna lets go.

“Seconds?” Wynonna asks.

“Seconds of what? I didn’t have anything to eat.” Champ looks at his friends, confused.

Wynonna sighs and turns to look at Waverly with an “ _Are you kidding me_?” face. “A second. You know, a backup driver. In case you back out. Or you go to pick up a penny right as one of those chumps tries to open the door and it knocks you out.”

Champ continues to frown, his head swiveling back and forth between Wynonna and his friends. 

“ _Grease_ , Champ. The movie  _Grease_.” Wynonna says dully.

Champ shrugs. “I’ve never seen it.”

Wynonna turns to face Waverly now. “Are you kidding me?” she asks aloud. She focuses her attention back on Champ. “So? Who’s your backup?”

Champ shrugs. He looks at his friends and shrugs again. “One of these guys.”

“Which one?” Wynonna nearly growls.

Champ claps a heavy hand down on the shoulder of the guy standing closest to him.  _Buck Holloway_ , Nicole thinks. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, if she remembers correctly. But good in a fist fight. She sported a black eye for nearly a week to prove it. “Buck here’ll do it.”

Buck grunts.

Wynonna nods her head in Nicole’s direction. “Haught is mine.”

Champ smirks again. “Some keeper of the law you are,” he drawls.

Nicole clenches her hand into a fist. Waverly’s eyes catch hers and she lets a steady stream of air out of her nose quietly. She unclenches her fist.

“Just makin’ sure no one gets hurt,” she says instead.

Champ grins wider and uses his arm around Waverly’s shoulders to pull her in, kissing her again. “Noon,” he says when he finally pulls away. He winks at Nicole and hops back into is truck, revving the engine and kicking a cloud of dust up as he leaves. 

Nicole coughs and swats at the air, trying to find a clean breath. “He is such a… a…” she starts.

“A bag of dicks,” Wynonna finishes.

Nicole nods. “Exactly.”

“Guys,” Waverly says weakly. “Stop it.”

“ _Guys_ ,” Wynonna mocks. She rolls her eyes and hops into her truck, slamming the door hard enough that Waverly’s body bounces a little on the hood. “Be here at 11:45.  _Don’t_  be late,” she says, pointing her finger at Nicole. “Or I pick all of our movie choices for the next 10 straight movie nights.” Waverly climbs into the cab.

Nicole makes a face and shakes her head. “I’m getting coffee,” she decides. “I can’t even try to pretend to get through whatever this thing is without more coffee.”

“11:45!” Wynonna yells as she peels out of the parking lot. Waverly leans out of the passenger window, smiling at her.

Totally under control, Nicole thinks.

 

—

At 11:40, Nicole shuffles out of Patsy’s Diner and back across the street to the corner of Main and Cypress. There’s a bench she sits down and wonders exactly how she got to this particular spot on just about the first Saturday she’s had off since she moved to Purgatory. But then Wynonna’s blue and white Ford comes around the corner, nearly taking out a lamppost, and Nicole remembers.

The car comes to a jerky stop and Waverly is out of the passenger side before the engine is off. She grabs for the lamppost and takes a deep breath. Nicole is instantly on her feet, grabbing Waverly around the waist when it looks like she’s going to fall to one side.

“What happened?”

Waverly is glaring past her in through the truck window. “Ask her,” she hisses, pointing shakily at Wynonna.

Nicole turns to look at Wynonna and groans. “Are you kidding?”

Wynonna stumbles out of the truck and around the front, a wide smile on her face. She sways violently back and forth. “Listen, I won,” she starts.

“You drove from Shorty’s like this?” Nicole asks, her voice high.

Wynonna holds her hands up in defense. “Woah there, Officer Haughtpocket. I’m  _fine_ ,” she slurs. “Totally good. Better than good. Great! I beat Doc at his own game! He’s the loser who can’t even get it up!” Wynonna pauses and shakes her head slightly. “I mean that-“

Nicole waves her off. “Just… Stop. You could have killed someone driving this… this drunk.” She swears. “Come on. Sit.” She lets go of Waverly slowly, wishing she could hold on for just a moment longer. Wynonna stumbles over to her and she grabs Wynonna, sitting her down on the bench. She peels her eyelids up and groans again. “You’re wasted.”

Waverly sits down next to her sister.

“Can’t win a drinking contest without getting wasted, Nicole,” Wynonna says, smacking her lips together. “Duh.”

“Can this get any worse?” Nicole asks.

She regrets asking.

Champ pulls onto Main as soon as the words are out of her mouth. His truck nearly jumps the curb but he stops right behind Wynonna’s truck. He climbs out of his truck, Buck right behind him, and sees Wynonna sliding off the bench. He laughs loudly. “I guess I win.”

“I have a second!” Wynonna yells loudly, slumping one way. She rights herself and blinks rapidly, as if she’s trying to clear her head. “I have a  second,” she says a little quieter. She looks at Nicole. “Right?”

Nicole sighs. “Are you serious?”

Wynonna lurches off the bench and grabs Nicole’s shirt. “I can’t lose the truck.”

Nicole stares at Wynonna for another moment before she sighs again. Wynonna cheers. “Fine,” she says over Wynonna’s whooping noises.

Waverly looks up at Nicole with an expression Nicole can’t read.

Nicole looks over at Champ and he’s staring at Waverly. He’s not stupid, Nicole knows. At least, he’s not as stupid as he seems. She can practically see the gears in his mind turning as she comes up with something she’s sure she won’t like.

“New prize,” he says breezily. He crosses his arms over his chest. “Winner gets pink slips. And a kiss from Waverly.”

“Excuse me?” Waverly practically shouts.

“Are you kidding?” Nicole asks.

Champ shrugs. “What? It’s not like some  _girl_ is going to beat me. At  _racing_ ,” he says. He laughs. “Yeah, right.”

“Champ, seriously,” Waverly says.

“Seriously. Winner gets a kiss.” He turns to Nicole. “Think your little ol’ heart could handle that, Haught?”

Nicole’s fists clench and this time she doesn’t dare look at Waverly. 

Waverly's hand finds her arm, though, and pulls hard to get her attention. “Nic-“ she starts.

Nicole ignores her. “She’s not an object, you pigheaded, misogynistic, arrogant-“

“Bag of dicks!” Wynonna yells. 

Champ steps forward, his mouth twisted in a growl, but Waverly cuts him off, one hand still on Nicole’s arms. “Both of you,” she says firmly. “Knock it off. All of you,” she adds, glancing at Wynonna. “Now, we are not making a kiss from a prize because one, I am not something to be won. I am a human. Two, you’re already my boyfriend, though you’re not doing the best job of that right now. And third, this whole thing is stupid.”

“Exactly,” Nicole says quietly.

Waverly looks at her sharply. “Thank you, Nicole.”

Nicole nods wordlessly.

Waverly continues to look at her quietly, studying Nicole for a long moment. Nicole shifts nervously.

Champ shrugs and steps back. “Are we racing or not?” he asks. 

Nicole looks helplessy at Wynonna and sighs, knowing the answer. She nods, resigned. “Keys in the ignition?”

Wynonna puts her hands up and points finger-guns in Nicole’s direction. “You got it, Haughstuff.”

Nicole looks at Waverly. “You got her?”

Waverly is already sitting next to her sister, supporting her weight. “You don’t need to do this.”

Nicole waves a hand absently. “Honor and integrity and all that,” she mumbles. She glares at Champ. “Ready?”

Champ hooks a thumb over his shoulder to a large, ugly bumper sticker on the back of his truck bed. ‘ _Born Ready_ ’ it stays. Nicole resists the urge to gag.

Wynonna pulls off a shoe and chucks it at Buck. “The flag,” she says.

He grunts.

Nicole gets into Wynonna’s truck and flexes her hands against the steering wheel. She pulls off the curb and moves the truck up to the stop line on the road. Champ pulls up next to her and grins, revving his engine. Nicole makes a face as diesel smoke piles in through her open window. She looks out the passenger side, towards Main, and catches Waverly’s eye. Waverly gives her a small smile and a wave and Nicole feels her confidence swell in her chest. She looks back at Champ and sneers at him. He turns instead and focuses on Buck, slinking between their trucks, a boot in his hand.

He doesn’t count down. He just drops the boot and then looks up at the two of them.

Champ gets the jump, half a second ahead. That black smoke fills the cab again but Nicole jabs at the gas pedal and it clears as she soars forward on the pavement.  _A mile_ , she tells herself.  _To the post office and back_. She pushes hard at the gas pedal and feels the truck protest under her feet. Champ pulls ahead a little more, swerving towards the middle of the road.

“Son of a-“ Nicole hisses. 

She pulls wide and leans forward, pressing on the gas even harder and shifting gears. The truck jumps and she silently lets up a prayer, hoping Wynonna will forgive her for returning the truck with a few stripped gears. Champ swerves again but Nicole edges past him and pushes towards the center of the road. He’s forced towards the side and nearly takes out a mailbox. Nicole can hear him swearing and she grins.

They pass the school and Nicole does a quick calculation. They’re halfway to the post office - a quarter of the way through the race. Her blood is roaring in her ears. Champ’s truck inches ahead and Nicole switches gears again, trying to keep up. They’re 800 feet from the post office when Nicole realizes she’s not sure how she’s going to turn around. She glances over at Champ and decides that he doesn’t know either, if the panic in his eyes is anything to go by.

Nicole decides to go high.

She angles the front of the truck for the right side of the road, nearly directly at the sidewalk. She pushes at the gas pedal and just as she’s about to hit a series of mailboxes on the curb, she pulls hard at the wheel and spins. The back tires slide across the pavement, her front wheels locked in place. She hears the rubber squealing against the asphalt and the gears grinding and she winces. But as soon as the road straightens out ahead of her, she shifts it into drive and jabs blindly t the gas with her foot. She looks left and right wildly but Champ isn’t there. She risks pulling her foot off the pedal and looks back over her shoulder.

Champ is slamming his hands against his steering wheel, his truck stalled and his hood smoking.

Nicole whoops, punching her fist into the ceiling. She keeps the pressure on the gas pedal, feeling the wind slide through her hair. She presses down on the horn rapidly as she passes their starting point, the winner.

She pulls the truck to a quick stop, wincing again as she feels another gear completely strip. She gets out of the truck and slams the driver’s door behind her, barely capable of catching Wynonna as she comes flying at Nicole.

“You did it!” Wynonna yells. She tilts sharply to one side and Nicole steadies her. “We won the truck!” Wynonna grabs for the swinging driver’s door of her truck and hauls herself up into the seat, honking the horn in victory.

Nicole turns and has even less time to catch Waverly, who jumps up and wraps her arms around Nicole’s neck. Nicole’s arms go tight around Waverly’s waist, hugging her close. Slowly, she puts Waverly down and Waverly pulls back, looking up into her eyes.

“You did it,” Waverly says quietly. 

“I did,” Nicole breathes out.

“You won a truck.”

“Wynonna won a truck,” Nicole says.

“So what do you get, then?”

Nicole shrugs wordlessly. Her fingers toy with the edge of Waverly’s shirt. 

Waverly’s mouth twitches at the corners as she leans in. “How about that kiss, then?” she breathes out against Nicole’s mouth.

Nicole’s answer comes and goes in the moment it takes for Waverly’s lips to press against her own. Her fingers dig into Waverly’s waist and she pulls Waverly as close as she can. Waverly’s tongue presses at the seam of Nicole’s lips. Nicole gasps and pulls Waverly impossibly closer, feeling her back press against the hot hood of the truck. 

A horn honks and Waverly jumps out of her arms, her face flushed. She looks at Nicole but she smiles softly and Nicole feels the tension building in her chest immediately evaporate and a warmth spreads through her body. 

Wynonna honks the horn again and Nicole jumps a second time, her face flushing. She looks back over her shoulder at Wynonna.

“Let’s go!” Wynonna demands. “I want to go get my pink slips before pinky over there slips away.”

Waverly pushes at Nicole’s side until Nicole climbs up into the truck and settles in the middle seat. Waverly climbs in after her, her hand resting on Nicole’s thigh.

The truck lurches as Wynonna tries to put it into a gear that’ll work but she smiles anyway and leans out the window as she drives. She yells words Nicole can’t make out as she flies down towards the post office and the still-smoking truck Champ is kicking. 

Nicole feels fingers lacing with her own and she smiles too.


End file.
